Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Beautiful, moving film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Well, it's a bit "meh", actually. There are some nice scenes from time to time, but it's all a bit empty. For a film with "love" in its title, there is precious little affection displayed here. I can't help but feel sorry for Marisa Tomei's character, who gets used and dumped in such a heartless way. Difficult to enjoy and even more difficult to recommend.

I saw this film trending on my twitter a while ago as it was on TV and saw some great comments on it so I decided to give it a go..I was quite disappointed especially knowing this is some people's go to movie but i wasn't feeling it. there were some funny bits here and there but i felt like it dragged on longer than it needed and truthfully i found some bits quite cringe worthy.. i was hopping it would be better as its got some of my favorite actors on it but sometimes the acting alone just isn't enough.

Crazy, Stupid, Love was a mild success at the box office due to it's ensemble cast and clever trailer. The film is a romantic comedy but not as much as the typical soppy ones where it first starts off as a somewhat innocent typical comedy then shifts towards romantic and finally more so depressing and expressive. This is a decent film and quite entertaining due to the cast, lead by Steve Carell (playing a similar character as he did in the 40 year old virgin) and Ryan Gosling who arguable steals the film. The other lead characters of Julianne Moore and Emma Stone come off as completely unlikable, but eventually get better as the film progresses.Containing with several flaws, such as the wife Emily played by Julianne Moore wanting to get a divorce from Steve Carell's character Cal because she cheated on him, after being married for over 20 years was sketchy. It was a surprise as it was the first scene in which it occurred,but as the film progresses we realize it was only her character going through a midlife crisis and did not actually want a divorce. The film contains other subplots, one which dragged on too long and dragged the quality of the film down. Which involves their 13 year old and their babysitter. This subplot folds towards the end but it was easily the weakest link and wasn't funny, sweet or all that interesting. At fist it was okay, but seeing as it became an entire subplot and part of the film held it down. The best scenes are the ones involving Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell together, with Gosling teaching Carell his ways of picking up woman at the bar, simply because the comedy is loose, and it's refreshing. Their chemistry is what made the film.Crazy, Stupid, Love has its moments since it is quite a long film but a lot of the film appears to be as a fairy tale and very coincidental. Such as Cal successfully being able to attract Marisa Tomei's character then later finding out she is their son's teacher at a parent conference meeting (when the meeting appeared to be at the end of the semester- since the son was about to graduate). It's plausible but a little sketchy that the parents would just now be meeting with their child's teacher that late in the semester. (Spoiler) The other coincidental is of course the concluding twist in the near finale of the film. This was well executed but very coincidental and far fetched but played well. Involves Ryan Gosling's character of Jacob appearing to fall for Emma Stone's character then turning out that she is the daughter of Steve Carell. This scene appears within the last 30 minutes of the film at their backyard when everything comes into place and is well played for laughs. Elevates the film from that point on. Otherwise this film isn't as great as considered but overall one can tell why this film did well with critics and movie goers as it isn't a completely typical rom-com but a bit depressing and very honest in the least bit.

"Crazy, Stupid, Love." is an American movie from 2011, so it had its 5th anniversary last year. It runs for almost two hours and was directed by Ficarra/Requa, who have collaborated on quite a few projects in the last two decades. The writer is Dan Fogelman and he was mostly busy with animated films before this one here, but it may be his most famous work now. One reason for that is the cast that includes so many known names, three Oscar winners even. I will not say the names as you can check the list for yourself, but what makes this one interesting in 2017 is that Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone from "La La Land" play a couple in here as well. The core subject in this 120-minute movie is love and the complicated ways into and out of it. Divorce is involved, unrequited love, parental love, love that isn't really love because it's all about sex etc. So you could think that this is a decent movie to watch with your significant other. Yes and no I would say. It is without a doubt entertaining to watch from start to finish and it is easy to care for what happens next to the characters. Also the film does not take paths in terms of the unrequited love segments I mentioned earlier that would have felt unrealistic. But all it does right there, it does wrong on other occasions. For me a good comedy/drama always has to fulfill at least a basic component of realism (unless it is a fantasy film, I guess) and there were 4-5 moments when this one doesn't and the people who made this sacrificed realism for entertaining/crucial plot twists. The worst example is probably when we find out about the parents of Stone's character. Another example would be Carell's character's final speech at the school that feels really as if it takes itself way too seriously and it hurt the film. What is also crucial is how important these moments were for the movie itself and that's why it was even more devastating to see how things really went wrong there. Another example would be when the teenage girl finds the younger boy's comments at the end actually flattering after being annoyed by them throughout the entire film or when he starts talking in front of the entire school about his masturbation techniques. It is American Pie level (I mean that in a bad way) there and these moments really destroyed all the good from other scenes. It's such a shame how it turned out eventually and I cannot give this film a thumbs-up because the lowest lows are really much more significant than the highest highs (if there were any at all). Also Ryan Gosling was definitely not deserving of a Golden Globe nomination here. He is forgettable in the first half of the film and mediocre in the second. Also he is clearly supporting. Overall, a thumbs-down from me. Pretty overrated film that does not deserve to be half s popular as it actually is.